Had the pleasure of doing an interview with Nordic Surf Mag along with some artwork featured.
Nordic Surf Mag spread
Nordic Surf Mag Interview
What came first, surfing or drawing? How do the two work in parallel in your life?
Drawing came first. I have been drawing for as long as I remember. Although I stopped for a couple of years here and there. In the beginning mostly knights, warriors and stuff like that… Always did extra art classes in school and after school. After coming back from Portugal on a CSN sponsored surf/ language trip, I also did 1 year of art school in Stockholm full time, which was awesome.
I remember first getting hooked on surfing after reading a summer issue of the magazine Åka Skidor. 10 pages were dedicated to beautiful images and stories of the North Shore and there was something about it that sucked me in…
I first tried surfing on a language course to Guernsey when I was15, and got hooked on it, the ocean, the anticipation of good waves, the smell of wax, I liked all of it…
I think drawing and surfing has a lot in common in some aspects, both are fun whatever skill level you have. They both forces you too live in the moment, it is hard to think about emails when you are riding a wave… Same is true when you are in the flow putting ink on paper.
When did you moved from Sweden to Australia and why?
I moved down to the Gold Coast in 2002. My good friend Camilo who I went to Portugal with earlier, went down 6 months before me, and I joined him down there. It was a way for us to combine surfing with studying at the university, like a pro surfer but sponsored by CSN. Obviously a bit of difference in the skill level from a pro also...
It was a great time, we lived in a nice old house, 6 surf hungry Swedes and an Aussie under one roof, right by the beach - good times!
Describe your typical day.
I wake up really early most days, feed the cats - you have to feed the cats before doing anything else, otherwise they go nuts. Actually, they are probably the reason I am up early in the first place.
Then down to the beach here in Freshwater, usually with my girlfriend Stephanie, check the surf + drink coffee. If the surf is good, I surf, otherwise back home and start working…
Work is a mixture of drawing just for fun, drawing for clients, working on online stuff and general things like emails I keep an eye on the surf cams, and if it looks clean I probably go for a surf at some stage, I just got a new longboard so now I am on the look out for small waves and have the most fun when the Bower ( Fairy Bower ) is small, un-crowded and clean.
What’s inspires you to draw?
I think a couple of different things, firstly - It is really fun, it get’s me in the flow. The most rewarding thing with drawing is the ability to start out with a blank sheet of paper, with no real plan on what to draw, just get started on something and let it come to life. I also really like that you can start and finish something in a relative short time span, either it came out good, or not, but it got finished.
Do you reckon a connection between surfing and drawing?
Yes, in the sense that both kind of takes you into the zone where you are in the moment and kind of disconnect from all the daily stuff…
A lot of ideas also pop up when you are surfing.
You live and surf in Australia but your artworks illustrate often cold water scenery. How do you explain that?
Even though I love warm weather and water, I think that my heart is with the Swedish/ Nordic kind of landscapes. The Swedish forest is really special to me. Growing up I did a lot of hiking, cross country skiing, camping and things like that.
Tell us about Torö
Torö is where I started surfing in Sweden, so it is a very special place for me. I remember calling the lighthouse on Landsort about 30 times/ hour as soon as you could see the leaves moving outside. This was before everything was online off course.
Torö for me is also a very tricky wave to surf, I always feel like a beginner there.
Do you still surf Sweden when back home for holidays?
Yep! Last summer we went down with my friends awesome mobile home “Kampermann” and stayed the night and got some fun waves in the early morning. I don’t go a lot, but definitely as soon as I get the opportunity.
How did you got into drawing animals surfing?
I drew a skateboarding bear for Nord a long time ago, I think that is when I started to think it was fun drawing animals that do thinks that I like to do.
If you could be an animal what would you be?
A pelican, I think they are my favorite animal at the moment, they fly in a very cruisy way, and I love how they land on water + they have the best beaks. I don’t think there is anything that is not cool about a pelican.
… and if you could be a surfboard ;-) what kind of board would you be?
Probably a longboard, at some tropical un-crowded point break, that sounds nice
Or actually, might be fun to be a big wave gun, that would be the only way I would ever surf really big waves.